Differences between Christianity and Aurelius' Meditations

The principal differences between the basic messages conveyed by Christianity and The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius:

基督教傳達的基本信息與馬可斯·奧理略沉思錄的內容之間的主要差別：

Christianity teaches that people are unhappy because they have inherited a sinful state from Adam and so cannot help but commit offenses against God, and many deliberately break God’s laws and rebel against the divine order of things. The only way to happiness is to repent, become a Christian, believe that Christ’s sacrifice can cleanse people from sin, commit to Christian living, observe religious laws, and lead a life in full accord with Christian moral standards. The central message is that suffering comes from disobeying God, and and only obeying God and accepting Jesus Christ leads to happiness.

基督教認為，人之所以不快樂，是因為他們從祖先亞當繼承了犯罪的傾向，所以不能不得罪上帝，許多人也故意違反上帝的律法，違背上帝的安排。 幸福的唯一途徑是悔改，成為基督徒，深信基督的犧牲可以洗淨人的罪孽，致力於基督徒的生活，遵守宗教律法，過完全符合基督教道德標準的生活。 中心信息是苦難來自於不順服上帝，只有順從上帝並接受耶穌基督才能帶來幸福。

The Meditations, however, explain that people are often unhappy because they are focused on what is beyond their control. They rail against fate and other things that they have no power over, but ignore and neglect the things which are under their control. They exhaust themselves tilting at windmills and complaining about how terrible the world is, while missing opportunities to make it a better place. In the philosophy of Aurelius, happiness results from making a valiant effort to doing what is reasonably within your power, and from focusing your attention and efforts on the things you can improve, while serenely acknowledging that there are things you cannot change. The core message is “focus on the things that you can do to improve your own life and the world in general”.

沉思錄卻說明，人之所以不快樂，是因為他們太專注於自己無法控制的事情。 他們對命運和自己無能為力的事大發雷霆，但並沒有認出有哪些事是他們可以控制的。 他們幻想宇宙與自己為敵，並抱怨世界有多麼糟糕，但同時完全錯過了讓世界變得更美好的許多機會。 在奧理略的哲學中，幸福源於勇敢和努力地去做力所能及的事情，並將注意力和力氣集中在可以改進的事情之上，同時平靜地承認有些情況是自己無法改變的。 沉思錄核心思想為 “人最關心的該是如何用自己有限的力量來改善自己的生活和整個周遭的環境”。

These therefore are two fundamentally different messages, which when followed produce very different behavior patterns. The first is a religious message with its emphasis on obeying and trusting in the divine, and a measure of blind faith is required. The second is more comparable to Confucian or Daoist philosophy in its focus on modes of human thought and appropriate interpersonal interactions as the key to finding happiness. It is a practical philosophy which does not require blind faith and which can be tested in everyday life. 

因此，這兩種不同的道理大相逕庭，遵循產生的行為模式和結果也必截然不同。 第一個是宗教道理，強調服從和相信上帝，需要一定程度的盲目信仰。 第二種類似於儒家或早期道家哲學，把提升人類思維模式和人際關係的品質視為幸福的關鍵。 這是一種實用的哲學，無需盲信，可以在日常生活中實際看到成效。